The House of Birds and Butterflies: The Dawn Chorus
Cressida McLaughlin
Rating: 5 stars
Amazon UK £0.99
A gorgeous new romantic series from the bestselling author of The Canal Boat Cafe.
Abby Field is living the dream. As events coordinator at the Meadowsweet nature reserve on the idyllic Suffolk coast, every day is an adventure with the birds and the butterflies, and she couldn't feel more at home. When another local nature reserve is chosen as the hot location for a new television series, however, Meadowsweet looks set for seasonal hibernation - unless Abby can whip up a creative plan to keep the visitors flocking.
With the help of the Meadowgreen villagers, and her cute rescue husky, Raffle, can Abby rescue the nature reserve from oblivion? Or will she be distracted by the arrival of a brooding - and annoyingly handsome - new neighbour...
The Dawn Chorus is the first part of a four-part serial.
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I thought this was a lovely introduction into a new series by Cressida McLaughlin. I didn't think I would have much interest in it (as it is based around a nature reserve) but, having said that, I found myself loving the story and really enjoying learning more about the birds, butterflies and animals etc.
I really warmed to Abby's character, most of the story is at the reserve and we don't get to read much about Abby's home life, which I think I would have liked but this is only the first part of the novel so I'm sure we'll learn more about Abby in the other three parts. As I mentioned above, I didn't think I would really 'get' the nature side of the story, but I really found myself getting into it so if you're feeling the same I would recommend you giving this novel a go. Cressida's novels have never disappointed me before - and this one is no different!
As it's a new series, you get to learn about all the new characters and this is something I love. You get to learn their personalities and I think this is what this part 1 of the story was all about and I believe this is so important in a new story. There are quite a few characters to get to know but it's not confusing at all and each character has their own very different personality so you get to know them pretty quickly.
The story follows main character Abby who works on the nature reserve that is suddenly under a lot of pressure to up it's attendance. There are interesting events that take place, moon-lit nature walks and quite a few descriptions about the yummy cakes and hot chocolates from the cafe! Suddenly, Abby has something else she wants to focus on, the gorgeous but grumpy author who just moved into the empty cottage by the reserve.
As the story goes on, you don't get to read too much about the pair's relationship developing until the very end, but I feel like the story was well written and it was interesting throughout. For someone who was a bit dubious to start with, I now can't wait to get my hands on part two and to read more about this reserve community!
Overall, a really great start to a new series. One I would thoroughly recommend. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I have reviewed honestly.
I thought this was a lovely introduction into a new series by Cressida McLaughlin. I didn't think I would have much interest in it (as it is based around a nature reserve) but, having said that, I found myself loving the story and really enjoying learning more about the birds, butterflies and animals etc.
I really warmed to Abby's character, most of the story is at the reserve and we don't get to read much about Abby's home life, which I think I would have liked but this is only the first part of the novel so I'm sure we'll learn more about Abby in the other three parts. As I mentioned above, I didn't think I would really 'get' the nature side of the story, but I really found myself getting into it so if you're feeling the same I would recommend you giving this novel a go. Cressida's novels have never disappointed me before - and this one is no different!
As it's a new series, you get to learn about all the new characters and this is something I love. You get to learn their personalities and I think this is what this part 1 of the story was all about and I believe this is so important in a new story. There are quite a few characters to get to know but it's not confusing at all and each character has their own very different personality so you get to know them pretty quickly.
The story follows main character Abby who works on the nature reserve that is suddenly under a lot of pressure to up it's attendance. There are interesting events that take place, moon-lit nature walks and quite a few descriptions about the yummy cakes and hot chocolates from the cafe! Suddenly, Abby has something else she wants to focus on, the gorgeous but grumpy author who just moved into the empty cottage by the reserve.
As the story goes on, you don't get to read too much about the pair's relationship developing until the very end, but I feel like the story was well written and it was interesting throughout. For someone who was a bit dubious to start with, I now can't wait to get my hands on part two and to read more about this reserve community!
Overall, a really great start to a new series. One I would thoroughly recommend. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I have reviewed honestly.
